Doughboy

This article is about the nickname. For other uses, see Doughboy (disambiguation).
"Over the top" – close-up of a doughboy in full combat dress

Doughboy was a popular nickname for the American infantryman during World War I.[1] Though the origins of the term are not certain,[2] the nickname was still in use as of the early 1940s. Examples include the 1942 song "Johnny Doughboy Found a Rose in Ireland", recorded by Dennis Day, Kenny Baker, and Kay Kyser, among others, the 1942 musical film Johnny Doughboy, and the character "Johnny Doughboy" in Military Comics.[3] It was gradually replaced during World War II by "G.I."[4][5]

  1. ^ The American Heritage Desk Dictionary (5th ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 2013. p. 255. ISBN 978-0-547-70813-3. OCLC 768728947.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference partridge was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Blogger, Misty (5 February 2012). "Golden Reading: Military Man: Johnny Doughboy". goldenreadingdomain.blogspot.com.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference brewer was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ George, John B. (1948) Shots Fired In Anger, Samworth Press. pp.xi, xii, 21. Lt. John George, an Army officer writing a World War II autobiographical postwar combat memoir in May 1947, freely used the term to describe himself and his fellow U.S. Army infantrymen.